Asparagus and Chicken Penne Pasta with Lemon Butter Sauce

You can easily put together a weeknight meal using chicken, penne pasta and asparagus. This recipe is one of our favorite pasta dinners, thanks to the flavorful lemon butter pan sauce.

Cook the penne pasta for about 6 minutes, until it’s about halfway done, then add asparagus to the pasta water. Cook the asparagus while the pasta finishes, then drain. Put the pasta and asparagus in a large mixing bowl and cover to keep warm.

Next, combine vegetable oil with chicken tenders, lemon pepper and rotisserie seasoning. Cook the chicken in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it’s cooked through and browned. Once the chicken is cooked, roughly chop and add to the asparagus and pasta mixture.

Finally, prepare the pan sauce. Add wine, garlic and shallots to the skillet. We chopped the garlic and shallots in the Stack and Press 3 Cup Glass Bowl Chopper. Scrape the bottom of the pan to lift the browned bits. Not only will these browned bits add tons of flavor, they will also deepen the color of your pan sauce. Cook for about 6 minutes, until garlic and shallots are tender and the wine is reduced, then add lemon juice and chicken broth. Reduce the broth by half and add salt and pepper. Stir in butter to finish this silky, rich pan sauce and pour over the other ingredients. Fold in sun-dried tomatoes and top with grated Pecorino Romano (or your favorite parmesan) and toasted walnuts.

The sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus add color while the crunch of the walnuts and rich pan sauce really pull the dish together. This Asparagus and Chicken Penne Pasta with Lemon Butter Sauce with can easily stand alone as a main course or would also work well as a hearty side dish.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. Add penne pasta and cook until almost al dente, about 6 minutes. Add asparagus and cook until asparagus is tender and pasta is al dente, 5 minutes longer. Drain and place in a large mixing bowl. Cover to keep warm.

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat remaining oil until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until browned on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until browned on second side and cooked through. If browning too quickly, reduce heat and cover for a few minutes. Remove chicken from pan to cutting board. Roughly chop chicken into bite size pieces. Place in mixing bowl with pasta. Add sun-dried tomatoes.

Add wine, garlic and shallot to skillet. Scrape bottom of pan to lift browned bits. Cook until garlic and shallots are tender and wine is reduced, about 6 minutes.

Add lemon juice and chicken broth. Cook until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in butter until thickened. Pour over pasta mixture. Toss to combine.

One Comment

I’ve made something very similar to this, but I do the steps basically backwards. I do the chicken and sauce first, keep it warm. Only use 2 cups of liquid to cook the pasta and asparagus, as it will absorb the water/flavors and not have to be drained. Then add the chicken and sauce to the pasta, toss, add cheese and nom nom nom!